June duller than January in NE?

[Summer of 95]

It seems, astonishingly, that in parts of Northeast Britain June stands a chance of being duller than January:

(from climate-uk.com)

Boulmer Jan 91 hrs; June 1-15 18.8hrs

Dyce Jan 57 hrs; June 1-20 35.8 hrs

At latitudes above 55 deg North, this simply should not happen- June days are more than twice as long as January ones at that latitude and the sun is far stronger.

[damianslaw]

It seems, astonishingly, that in parts of Northeast Britain June stands a chance of being duller than January:

(from climate-uk.com)

Boulmer Jan 91 hrs; June 1-15 18.8hrs

Dyce Jan 57 hrs; June 1-20 35.8 hrs

At latitudes above 55 deg North, this simply should not happen- June days are more than twice as long as January ones at that latitude and the sun is far stronger.

I'm glad someone has made this observation as it is something I have been mentioning time and time again this month i.e. the woeful sunshine levels in Newcastle/Sunderland.

June is usually the sunniest month of the year and although i don't usually expect warm conditions i do expect sunny conditions. This year has been appauling for sunshine.

You don't need high temperatures to make for a pleasant summers day 18 degrees is fine, but you do need the sun. It is for this reason that this June has been truly horrible here in Tyne and Wear, not the temperatures which certainly haven't been much to write about we haven't seen 21 celsius all month, or the rain which i think has been not much above average but the pathetic sunshine totals.

I would be interested for people to record their sunshine levels this month, a warm June certainly doesn't make up for a wet and dull one aswell!

[Summer of 95]

Boulmer now on 63.5 according to Weatheronline- needs to average 5.5 hours per day to the end of the month to make June sunnier than January!

[Thundery wintry showers]

Although it's been a fairly warm June in the North East, this is entirely due to the high minima- so far, the average maximum has been rather below the long-term mean here in Cleadon. By that measure it stands a good chance of being the coolest June since 1997, when I recorded a mean max of 15.5C.

Those stats are remarkable; some places on course for a significantly duller June even than 1997, which has always been my benchmark for dullness with just 60-65% of the average.

In 1997 June was significantly duller than March and October in the North East, and sunshine totals were similar to those of February. But June duller than January is quite something!

[Bobby]

That would be quite something if it were to happen. A very good chance too. It seems these days even when we get a month that isn't record breakingly warm, records are broken in other areas such as rain, wind, sunshine etc. We live in interesting times.

[Summer of 95]

Just looking at climate.uk again- Dyce and Boulmer respectively 88 and 82 hours for December 2006. June duller than the preceding January AND December would be absolutely flabbergasting. February 2007; 62 and 69 hours. To get June duller than any month of the winter before it, at 9-11 degrees from the Arctic Circle, would be something I'd never think even near possible.

[Thundery wintry showers]

Indeed, it's not inconcievable from those stats that June 2007 could end up being locally the dullest of any month since January or February 2006!

[damianslaw]

These statistics are really crazy and should be emphasised strongly in any review of the month.

June 2007 for Tyne and Wear has been and i will re-iterate absolutely shocking, even with the dry first 10-11 days it has been the dull grey skies that have made it so unappealing and unsummery, it is like living in January!

[summer blizzard]

Shocking, even taking into account temperature and sunshine as well as rainfall, this month gets 2/10.

[Summer of 95]

Boulmer 72.6 (Weatheronline) up to June 27th: has beaten February but still needs another 19 to beat January: over 6 hours a day now. According to the Metoffice the sunniest place in the NE yesterday was Durham at 2.0 hours, so it looks safe for another day.....

[Thundery wintry showers]

Well, the dullness of the month will certainly be emphasised in the monthly summary I put up on my website in the first few days of July.

Today looks like being a reasonably bright showery day in the NE so those sunshine totals should rise a bit (probably by 5-7 hours) but tomorrow looks like being very dull and wet, so it does look like some locations will end up duller than January.

If the last third of the month had been as dull as the first two-thirds up here we could have been looking at the dullest of any month since January 2006!

[Summer of 95]

Boulmer 82.3 for the month (Weatheronline); if that's verified it's been duller than January by 9 hours. Whether it beat December will be down to decimal points.

[Thundery wintry showers]

Philip Eden notes that at Dyce (Aberdeen Airport), June was duller than last December...

Given that Durham recorded 94 hours of sunshine in January, it's touch and go in Tyne & Wear/Durham as to whether June will turn out duller than January, but there will be very little in it.

[damianslaw]

Philip Eden notes that at Dyce (Aberdeen Airport), June was duller than last December...

Given that Durham recorded 94 hours of sunshine in January, it's touch and go in Tyne & Wear/Durham as to whether June will turn out duller than January, but there will be very little in it.

Amazing statistic emphasising emphatically that for Tyne and Wear June 2007 really was quite terrible, not one day hit above 21 degrees and the dullness has made it certainly feel like the depths of winter at times.

[Coast]

Well I am still awaiting the official Eastbourne figures for June 2007 sunshine levels but I notice the Meto website quotes:

'The provisional total for the month is 156.6 hours, which is 84% of the 1961-1990 average. Dullest June since 1998.'

The comment for January 2007 was:

'The final total for the month is 51.8 hours, which is 118% of the 1961-1990 average.'

I would therefore conclude then that June was not generally duller than January, but in comparison to like months from previous years, June was a stinker with only North Scotland having anything near normal!

[Coast]

Sorry to revisist this one but I have only just seen the figures for Eastbourne for June. It does confirm that June 2007 was duller than the previous June (2006) at only 198.8 hours of sunshine with a mean temp of 16.3 DgC and 58.2mm of rain in 12 rain days.

That compares to 270 hours of sunshine in June 2006, 27.3mm of rain on 10 rain days (June 2005 was similar). Pretty much what we have seen across the UK and certainly at odds with the usual for Eastbourne - 'The Sunshine Coast' !

To answer the main question though, June 2007 was not duller than January 2007 here.

Edited July 31, 2007 by Coast

[Thundery wintry showers]

June 2007 sunshine actually came in at 111 hrs for Durham, so beating the January total, but as you say, not by much.

A little further inland and 30 miles south of Tyne and Wear, 20 degC reached on 10 days, abs max was 25.8degC on 11th.

Judging by the maps provided by the Met Office, it appears to have been the case at Cleadon as well- their maps suggest a sunshine total of 90-95 hours for January and about 110 hours for June, indeed almost identical to the Durham totals!

Thus it was probably only the dullest June since 1987 here.